Stowaway Teen May Have Been Trying to Get to Africa, Family: Report

The teenage boy who managed to fly from California to Hawaii the landing gear of a jumbo jet may have been attempting to find family in Africa, according to a local report.

Police sources in Maui told NBC affiliate KHNL that the 15-year boy was trying to make his way to the continent to find family members, but wound up in Hawaii when he boarded the first plane he saw in the middle of the night at San Jose’s airport.

The boy from Santa Clara, Calif., first hopped a fence Sunday at about 1 a.m. local time near a fuel farm at Mineta San Jose International Airport, officials said.

The teenage boy who stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from San Jose to Maui is loaded into an ambulance at Kahului Airport on Sunday afternoon, April 20, 2014. Chris Sugidono / The Maui News via AP